Shrewsbury woman selling clothes to help abuse survivors

Lizzie Sutton opened SheLovedPreloved in Shrewsbury's Darwin Centre

A woman who escaped an abusive relationship has opened a clothing shop to support other survivors.

Lizzie Sutton said that before she left her "manipulative" relationship, she was unable to afford clothes, making her feel "not like a person".

The experience inspired her to sell affordable clothes to boost the confidence of others like her.

At her shop in Shrewsbury, all profits from a special rail are donated to a local domestic abuse charity.

She said before she got out of her situation "I couldn't afford to buy clothes so I was just looking at charity shops and car boots because I couldn't afford to buy new.

"It just made me not even feel like a person really, I didn't feel like a human."

She said she dreamed of opening her shop, called SheLovedPreloved, selling second-hand but stylish clothes to help survivors feel more confident.

'Wear it as armour'

"I'm a survivor, I'm not afraid to tell my story," she said.

"And I want other women to see there is a future afterwards - you can carry on, you just own what you've been through and wear it as your armour."

Profits from some of the sales are donated to Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service, which supports survivors in the county.

Ms Sutton said the abuse she suffered was "very manipulative", undermining her self-confidence, but seeing her shop come to life was helping her to start to feel proud of what she had achieved.

"When you've had that for your whole life, you feel like you're not capable of doing anything," she said.

"So actually, to be in my shop and see all the clothes - I'm working to be really proud of myself."

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